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Tea Tree Oil Facts v. Rumour, Hearsay and Opinion.
• Rumour, Hearsay or Opinion ("RHO"): Tea Tree Oil is sufficiently effective it may eventually completely replace certain antibiotics such as tetracycline, streptomycin or penicillin.
• FACT: Tea Tree Oil has antimicrobial properties which may make it suitable for the treatment of some topical infections. It is recommended that it be used topically. It will never replace antibiotics that are used systemically. In fact, making direct comparisons between Tea Tree Oil and such antibiotics has no validity and is not appropriate.
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• RHO: There are superior grades of Tea Tree Oil e.g. "pharmaceutical" "B.P", "USP", "N.F." and or "technical".
• FACT: Although claims are made for superior grades of Tea Tree Oil such as “medicinal”, "pharmaceutical" or “premium” grade etc. there is little scientific evidence that these oils are superior in any meaningful way. A high quality Oil however with Max. 5% Cineol content is regarded has having optimal therapeutic properties, antimicrobial and anti viral efficacy. |
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• RHO: “Ti-tree” is another name for tea tree ..
• FACT: Ti-tree is the common name for plants in the Cordyline genus. These are found in New Zealand and the South Pacific.
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• RHO: Tea Tree Oil must be sourced from M. alternifolia
• FACT: The international standard for Tea Tree Oil does not specify which species of Tea Tree must be used to produce the oil. It does however, provide compositional limits for 14 of the more than 100 components that make up Tea Tree Oil. Most Tea Tree Oil is produced from M. alternifolia grown on plantations but other plants that may produce suitable oils include M. dissitiflora and M. Alternifolia. |
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• RHO: There are numerous kinds of “Tea Tree Oil" and they all have therapeutic properties.
• FACT: There are lots of plants known as “tea tree”. However, Tea Tree Oil can only be produced from a very small number of plants, mainly M. alternifolia. Some other oils may have medicinal properties such as antimicrobial activity but few have been scientifically investigated as much as Australian Oil derived from M.Alternifolia. |
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• RHO: “New Zealand Ti-Tree Oil” is the same as Tea Tree Oil
• FACT: The essential oils distilled from Kunzea ericoides and Leptospermum scoparium, also known as Kanuka and Manuka oils respectively, are often referred to as New Zealand Ti-Tree Oils. They are very different in composition from Tea Tree Oil and it cannot be assumed that they have the same medicinal properties as those shown for the essential oil derived from M.Alternifolia. |
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• RHO: Oil from any Tea Tree plant can be called Tea Tree Oil.
• FACT: Many plants are commonly called “Tea Trees”. Oils from only a few of them can be correctly referred to as Tea Tree Oil and must meet the requirements of the international standard for Tea Tree Oil. Most Tea Tree Oil is produced from M. Alternifolia. |
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• RHO: Tea Tree Oil is one of the most powerful antiseptics
• FACT: There are many antiseptics and disinfectants that have greater antimicrobial activity than Tea Tree Oil, however, none of them are natural, and few can claim the same degree of safety when formulated into household consumable products. Also, it is unlikely that any of them have the same unique range of properties that Tea Tree Oil has such as antimicrobial activity, anti viral activity, anti-inflammatory activity and skin penetrating capacity, and it is mildly analgesic. |
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• RHO: Other types of tea tree oil that don't meet the international standard are as a good as M.alternifolia origin Tea Tree Oil.
• FACT: Tea Tree Oil, as defined by the international standard, has a 70 year history of safe use and scientific data to support claims about its properties. Other varieties of so called 'tea tree oil' have not been as well characterized and studied. Only oil that meets the international standard can be presumed to have the medicinal properties attributed to the genuine M. alternifolia based Oil. |
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• RHO: Tea Tree Oil is made up of 48 components.
• FACT: Tea Tree Oil is made up of over 100 components. Most have been identified. Many have yet to be fully understood much less identified. |
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• RHO: Cineol is a skin irritant
• FACT: 1,8-cineol is also known as eucalyptol since it is the major component of some Eucalyptus type essential oils. Several scientific publications have shown that it is not a skin irritant. |
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• RHO: Tea trees (M. alternifolia) grow only in Australia
• FACT: The native habitat of M. alternifolia is a small area of north-eastern New South Wales, Australia. However, M. alternifolia has been cultivated successfully in other parts of New South Wales, in other states of Australia such as Queensland and Western Australia and in other countries. |
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• RHO: Terpinen-4-ol levels should be maximized and 1,8-cineol levels should be minimized.
• FACT: Terpinen-4-ol is the main antimicrobial component of Tea Tree Oil. Levels of terpinen-4-ol in Tea Tree Oil are inversely proportional to levels of 1,8-cineol. i.e. if terpinen-4-ol levels are high then 1,8-cineol levels are low. Terpinen-4-ol is the main antimicrobial component of Tea Tree Oil and to a limited extent, higher levels will correspond to higher activity. However, increasing the levels of terpinen-4-ol above 40% is unlikely to offer any additional benefit compared to oil that just meets the international standard. |
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• RHO: Tea Tree Oil works better in the presence of blood and pus.
• FACT: Many antimicrobial agents work less effectively in the presence of blood and pus or other organic matter. So the suggestion that the activity of Tea Tree Oil increases is appealing. However laboratory work has shown that the activity of the Oil is either unaffected or may be reduced by the presence of certain organic matter. It is not improved. |
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• RHO: Tea Tree Oil is completely safe because it is natural.
• FACT: Nothing is completely safe and this includes Tea Tree Oil. It should not be ingested in it's concentrated form and should generally be used topically. The comparatively rare number of people who might be allergic to the oil may experience a skin reaction even at low concentrations. However this is uncommon. Others may experience an irritant reaction if they use the oil at high concentrations. Irritant reactions usually subside if more dilute oil is used. Concentrated Tea Tree Oil has been shown to be very effective when applied neat to mouth ulcers for e.g. affording the sufferer with instant relief, and safely applied to the mouths of children, under adult supervision. |
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• RHO: Tea Tree Oil can be taken orally.
• FACT: Concentrated pure Tea Tree Oil should not be ingested. Apart from data gleaned from the few cases of poisoning that have been reported in the medical and scientific literature, there are no oral toxicity data for Tea Tree Oil on humans so we do not know if, or how much Tea Tree Oil can be ingested safely. In the absence of data clearly showing that something is safe to ingest, the convention in medicine is to recommend that it not be ingested. Since there are no such data for Tea Tree Oil it cannot be recommended. The Tea Tree Oil contained in oral products such as toothpastes and mouthwashes is not considered problematic since it is expelled from the mouth and not swallowed. |
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• RHO: Special consideration needs to be given to the use of Tea Tree Oil during pregnancy and breast-feeding.
• FACT: There is no data showing that topical application of Tea Tree Oil is either harmful or safe during these times and as aforementioned. In the absence of clinical data showing that something is safe to use, it is generally not recommended. |
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• RHO: Tea Tree Oil can cross sensitize to or cross react with colophony (colophonium).
• FACT: Colophony is one of the compounds in a standard dermatology patch test. In some reports of allergy to Tea Tree Oil, patients have also reacted to colophony. This does not prove that Tea Tree Oil sensitized them to colophony or that colophony cross reacts with Tea Tree Oil.
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• RHO: If Tea Tree Oil inhibits or kills an organism in laboratory trials, it will be effective in the body.
• FACT: Activity in a laboratory does not always translate to effectiveness in the body. The best way to determine if a treatment is effective in the body is to test it in a randomized, or (particularly) double-blind, controlled clinical trial. |
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• RHO: Tea Tree Oil is similar to (natural, vegetable, wood or gum) turpentine.
• FACT: Tea Tree Oil is composed of terpene compounds. Terpenes are molecules made up of carbon and hydrogen in the ratio C10H16. Other terpene examples include: turpentine, B-carotene (an antioxidant providing the orange colour in carrots for e.g.) and lycopene (apples and tomatoes).
• FACT: We have a personal case where an 18 month old child consumed approx. 60mls of 10% conc. of Tea Tree Oil. Despite the understandable horror once discovered, the child was monitored overnight and suffered no lasting ill effects. He simply "bubbled a bit both ends" and was perfectly normal the next day and with no other lasting side effects what-so-ever. |
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• FACT: Tea Tree Oil is a most effective constituent for an inhalation for the relief of asthma, sinus or debilitating acute hay-fever symptoms. Frequently Tea Tree Oil (in acute cases of Hay Fever induced by allergenic reaction to rye grass for e.g.) has been the only means of relief when other conventional prescribed medicines have failed. We (the author) have personal experience with this phenomenon.
Tea Tree Oil - is defined by the International Standard for “Oil of M., terpinen-4-ol type”
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• RHO: Tea Tree Oil can cure Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus ("MRSA") infections.
• FACT: MRSA are Staphylococcus Aureus bacteria that have become resistant to several antibiotics including methicillin. MRSA can infect people and cause disease, or can just colonize the skin of healthy people without doing significant harm. MRSA infections can become serious and can even become life-threatening while MRSA colonization is not usually a problem for the carrier. However, if the MRSA carrier should pass their MRSA to a person who is already unwell or who has a wound, they may become very ill. In hospitals and other healthcare settings, much effort goes into reducing MRSA carriage by decolonizing carriers in order to reduce subsequent MRSA infections. Decolonization plays an important role in the control of infection.
It's known that Tea Tree Oil can inhibit and kill MRSA in controlled laboratory tests. There is also mounting evidence that it may be useful for eliminating the topical carriage of MRSA. On current evidence, it is unlikely that Tea Tree Oil will be used to treat systemic MRSA infections although it may find application in treating wounds infected or colonized with MRSA.
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• RHO: Tea Tree Oil will be registered as a medicine.
• FACT: When medicines are registered with regulatory authorities such as the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration ("ATGA") or the US Food and Drug Administration ("FDA"), they are registered as treatments for specific conditions. Each registration requires relevant clinical data and covers only that use. There is no general registration to cover all applications and since there is no such category, Tea Tree Oil can't be registered in it. However, when there are sufficient data, this important essential oil will be registered as a treatment for specific conditions. For example, as a treatment for cold sores, as a treatment for Impetigo ('school sores') or eczema and psoriasis or as an agent to decolonize MRSA carriers. |
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